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Published: February 5th 2011
Sunday 23rd January
Not a good start to the day at all. At 6am we walked a long way to the train station only to find it closed and not open until 7am. Our flights at 0740 so we're standing there with our last $20 Singaporean wondering if a taxi would cost that much to get us to the airport.
We waved lots of taxis down but no one would stop for us as they seem more interested in picking up Indians coming out of mosques and churches after their early Sunday prayers!
We eventually got a taxi and made it to the airport with plenty time to spare. We rushed through departures and boarded our plane for the one hour flight up too Kuala Lumpar. We're up in the air and down again without much fuss, so far so good!
Now just the bags to pick up...Collect Jills bag. Tick! Leons bag...erm, Leons bag? .oh oh...where's my bag? My bag didnt even get on the plane! We end up sitting at lost and found for 5 hours trying to locate the bag. Lost and found staff were not interested in the slightest as we stood there amoungst three or
four dozen bags which are also lost or due to be delivered. Not a good omen! I can't describe the bad feeling we had and we feared the worse.
The Airasia helpline was as much use as a fart in a spacesuit!
We waited for the next two Singapore arrivals and still no bag. Right, we've had enough of the bad attitude of the lost and found staff and decide enough is enough and caught the bus to the train station then caught the rail into KL which takes a hour. Ive got visions of wearing Jills underwear for a few days which isnt a bonnie thought so ive crossed both my fingers and toes and prayed my bag would be found.
Thank god the Reggae Hostel II that we checked into was super cool and was one of the best hostels we've stayed in for a while. Free internet, free breakfast and very clean facilities. Top drawer!
We make the most of a bad situation and organised a night tour of the city to take our minds off of things which turned out to be great as we visited some really nice areas around the presidential palace
and we stopped at the Sultan Abdul Samad building which is all lit up in changing colours.
The Sultan Abdul Samad Building is located in front of the Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square). Many historical events had been held in front of this building. Among them was the declaration of independence of Malaysia (Malaya then) on 31 August, 1957 and the lowering of the Union Jack. On 1 January 1982, the clock tower became the venue for another historic event when the time between Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore were standardized. We walked around here for a short while before being whisked off through the beautiful city which is a mass of lights and colours. The roadside trees and fences are all lit up with l.e.d lights and its sure is a fantastic feeling as we glimps the twin towers approaching as we navigate through the streets towards it.
Standing at 452 metres high, The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world for six years, until Taipei 101 was completed in 2004. The height of the towers are measured to the top of their structural components such as spires, but do not include antennas. The Petronas Towers
still remain the tallest twin buildings in the world however.
Tower One is fully occupied by Petronas and a number of its subsidiaries and associate companies, while the office spaces in Tower Two are mostly available for lease to other companies
The towers feature a skybridge between the two towers on 41st and 42nd floors, which is the highest 2-storey bridge in the world. It is not attached to the main structure, but is instead designed to slide in and out of the towers to prevent it from breaking during high winds. We were going to do the skywalk but its only open Tuesdays to Saturdays and you have to queue at 8am if you want a ticket to get up there.
Our tour guide takes us to the The Kuala Lumpur Tower which is the second tallest tower in KL. Its construction was finished in 1995. It is used for communication purposes and features an antenna that reaches 421 m, which currently makes it the second tallest freestanding tower in the world.
The rest of the tower below has a stairwell and an elevator to reach the upper area, which also contains a revolving restaurant, providing diners
a panoramic view of the city. Races are organised yearly where participants race up the stairs to the top. The tower also acts as the Islamic falak observatory to observe the crescent moon which marks the beginning of Muslim month of Ramadhan, Syawal, and Zulhijjah, to celebrate fasting month of Ramadhan, Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Aidiladha. The tower is the landmark of Kuala Lumpur with nearby Petronas Towers.
We finished the night off with a visit to Bukit Bintang.
Bukit Bintang is the name of the shopping and entertainment district of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It encompasses Jalan Bukit Bintang and its immediate surrounding areas. The area has long been Kuala Lumpur's most prominent retail belt that is home to many landmark shopping centres, cafés, swanky bars, night markets, as well as hawker-type eateries. This area is popular among tourists and locals and its buzzing as we walk down the streets getting lost on purpose. We stopped at a nice kerbside cafe and grabbed dinner and we had a great view of the tops of the Petronas Towers which was a nice way to finish off the night in KL.
Monday 24th January
A total waste of a day
which consisted of endless phonecalls and lengthy waits between emails until the final call mid afternoon confirmed what we had suspected all along. Somehow the bar code tag had been ripped off and no one knew what to do with the bag and it was put in the 'I dont know pile!'. 😊
So its the hours journey back to the airport to obtain special passes to get into lost and found then pick up bags and shuttle back to KL city by which point it was into the evening and a bit a crap day. Just to add to the misery its started to really pour heavily down of rain. At least I have the bag back albeit minus a bottle of aftershave and some little bits and pieces that was in the top zipper compartment. No big deal!
We walked around Chinatown for a couple of hours in the rain and had dinner at the side of the road which was cheap and cheerful once washed down with some beers. We are in better moods now!
Where to next? Oh, thats right. We are off to Koh Phi Phi Island via Phuket tomorrow so here's hoping for less
drama!
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Fred
non-member comment
Scot in Undies Scandal
That I would have liked to see! Horrible thing to happen, lost our bags in N.Y. but when found the airlne delivered them to the hotel. Sam turned a corner some tubes taken out and able to take water orally.Mum called which was very supportive, nice family the Bain-Duffus lot you know. Are you able to sit when dining al fresco kirbside, I just can't eat standing, tried it in Bangkok and had to give up, pity because food straight from a wok is just fab. Much love to you both.